Two men were arrested in the carpark of a fast-food outlet on Carnival Tuesday with two loaded handguns.

A 20-year-old man and a 22-year-old man, both of Diego Martin, were being held at the Four Roads Police Station up until late yesterday.

A Glock 17 pistol loaded with a magazine containing 15 rounds of 9mm ammunition and a Glock 34 pistol loaded with a magazine containing 15 rounds of 9mm ammunition were seized.

A release from the TTPS said the men were held by officers of the Western Division Task Force during an anti-crime exercise in the Diego Martin district.

Police received information that two men were seated outside the KFC restaurant at St Lucien Road armed with weapons.

Officers led by Supt Peter Dominique and supervised by Cpl Nicholas Nurse were involved in the bust.

Officers went to a parked silver Nissan Tiida sedan which was parked outside the restaurant.

During a search of the suspects, the weapons were found in their possession.

Senior officers said the men were not charged but being questioned until late yesterday.

Investigations are continuing.

Soca star Machel Montano says he had to rush from the Socadrome to the Queen’s Park Savannah on Carnival Tuesday not because he fell ill, but because two bands he was scheduled to perform for were on different stages at the same time.

Montano called in on CNC3’s Morning Brew yesterday to clarify a T&T Guardian story which suggested he had to seek medical treatment for suspected exhaustion after his Socadrome performance. He said he suffered a minor bruise at some stage during his performance, but said this did not require medical attention and did not interfere with his schedule.

“I was on the road all day yesterday (Tuesday). Right after that performance, if you pull the footage, you will see me performing in the Queen’s Park Savannah for more than 20 minutes again. So when did I ever get in an ambulance or be sick? It’s not true,” Montano said during the CNC3 interview.

Montano, who said this season was a little more laid back because he did not do as many appearances as in the past, admitted Carnival Tuesday was a bit hectic.

“We were contracted to perform crossing the stage at the Socadrome with Tribe on the Digicel truck, which we did. We had to rush because Fantasy was already crossing the stage and I have a truck in Fantasy that we had to cross the stage also.”

He recalled that after performing at the Socadrome he was showing somebody “a bruise that I got on the truck.” But he said they laughed about it and “we jumped off the truck and we ran to the maxi waiting to take us up to the Savannah.”

He said his appearance at the Socadrome was his first in its five-year history and was a result of his Digicel partnership. If there was any “mishap,” he said it was that “the two bands were on the stage at the same time. So we had to go from one stage to the other and we made it.” He said within 10 minutes of performing at the Socadrome he was performing on the Savannah stage.

He said he was overwhelmed by the love he got from the fans on the day, adding as he was running through the streets with “security and performers people stop me to take pictures, you have to be fit to do that.”

Montano said as someone who was ill at birth, he takes care of his health and assured his fans: “I am someone who will always be there and be in the best of health.”

After his Socadrome appearance, the T&T Guardian asked a member of Montano’s entourage if he was okay since he showed a bit of discomfort during the set, where he performed his runaway Road March hit Soca Kingdom. At the time, the individual said: “We suspect that it could be a matter of exhaustion, but it is guaranteed that Machel will get the best treatment and once he is okay he will resume once more on the truck to continue with his live performance of his hit.”

He went on to add, however, that there was not “anything to worry about” and once Montano was fine they would continue on to the next venue.

Ronnie and Caro Mas Band have retained their National Carnival Commission (NCC) Band of the Year title for their 2018 presentation of Life’s Checkered Board.

The large band, owned by veteran soca artist Ronnie McIntosh and his wife Caroline, copped their third consecutive title when the results were announced yesterday.

The band had previously won the Medium Band of the Year title for four consecutive years between 2008 and 2011, before it grew into a large band.

In an interview at the band’s Woodbrook mas camp just before he began celebrating with staff last evening, McIntosh said while they were happy titles were not the driving force behind the band’s annual presentations.

“When we first started we were not concentrating on the titles. We won the first year we came out, but that really was not the plan,” McIntosh said.

Saying the band was focused on providing good customer service, he said most of their 1,000 masqueraders were returning customers and foreign nationals.

“Customer service is one of the things that’s making us famous and making people come back and recommend us to other people,” McIntosh said.

He also said his masqueraders did not need much prompting to stick within their sections at judging points and were synchronised for much of the parade route.

“Presentation is important. It does not mean that you have to do theatrics, drama and fireworks. It is just how you come across stage and give the judges and people an opportunity to see the band and costumes,” he said.

In second place in the large band competition was The Lost Tribe’s presentation Seven followed by Paparazzi Carnival’s Nomadik Nation.

The top three results were the same for the Port-of-Spain City Corporation’s Downtown competition for Carnival Tuesday. It was the fifth time that Ronnie and Caro had won the corporation’s Carnival Tuesday title.

In the medium band category, K2K Alliance’s We Stand United beat Republic Bank Exodus Steel Orchestra’s The Eyes of God, which was designed by former multiple Band of the Year winner Peter Minshall. In third place was Jus Wee and Friends’ presentation Wee Take Flight. Like Ronnie and Caro, the win was K2K Alliance’s third title in as many years.

NCC BAND OF THE YEAR RESULTS

Large Bands
1. Ronnie and Caro Mas Band - Life’s Checkered Board - 1275
2. The Lost Tribe - Seven - 1245
3. Paparazzi Carnival - Nomadik Nation - 1204
Medium Bands
1. K2K Alliance - We Stand United - 1270
2. Republic Bank Exodus Steel Orchestra - The Eyes of God - 1235
3. Jus Wee and Friends - Wee Take Flight - 1198
Small Bands
1. Tribal Connection Cultural Promotion - Call of D Tribes - 1192
2. Utopia Mas - Folklore: A Collection of Animal Tales - 1191
3. Belmont Exotic Stylish Sailors - Masters of the Art - 1182
Mini Bands
1. The Orginal Jab Jab - Spirit of D Whip - 1196
2. Simply Cultural - We Claiming We Space - 1184
3. Rhapsody in Blue - Blue Madda Dan Dem - 1164

Soca legends Machel Montano and Austin “Super Blue” Lyons have been crowned this year’s Road March winners.

Their 2018 collaboration Soca Kingdom was played a total of 336 times at official Carnival judging points across T&T- more then twice as much as nearest competitor Neil “Iwer” George.

George’s Savannah was played a total of 140 times while Patrice Roberts’ Sweet For Days came in third with 112 plays. The competition was, however, the closest it has been in years when winners succeeded by much larger margins.

It also created history for Lyons, as he is now tied with legendary calypsonian Lord Kitchener (Aldwin Roberts), who won the competition a record 10 times before he died in 2000.

Lyons’ last win came in 2013 with Fantastic Friday, when he briefly put a damper on Montano’s recent dominance in the competition. Lyons tied with George in 2000 and won the title in 1995 and back to back titles between 1991 and 1993. His other titles came in 1980, 1981 and 1983, while his sobriquet was still “Blue Boy.”

Montano can still overtake both veterans, as this year’s victory took his tally to nine. He won the competition three years in a row between 2014 and 2016 and also in 2011 and 2012. In 2006, he won the title with Patrice Roberts for their collaboration Band of the Year and then by himself the following year with Jumbie. Montano’s first title came in 1997 with Big Truck.

Montano posted a photograph of the results issued by the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation (TUCO) on his Instagram account yesterday afternoon. At around 6 pm yesterday, the post had received over 16,000 likes and had attracted over 600 comments.

Contacted yesterday, a member of Montano’s management team, who asked to remain unidentified, said he was celebrating with friends “Down the Islands.”

“We would like to extend our congratulations to Super Blue too. I think he (Super Blue) contributed a lot to it. He shared his wisdom with Machel, who really took his advice and worked together to achieve this win,” the representative said.

She added: “We also want extend congratulations to Iwer and Patrice, who Machel really trained.”

The judging criteria for the competition has been the subject of criticism for several years. Under current rules, only T&T citizens registered with TUCO are allowed to compete and the song which receives the most plays at designated judging points and during specific judging times is declared the winner. The first song to be played by each truck at the judging point is awarded a point, with any subsequent songs being disregarded.

•See Page A8

San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello yesterday called for an apology from the police, following an incident on Carnival Tuesday night in which he was physically assaulted when he challenged the police’s decision to halt celebrations early.

Addressing the media at a press conference at City Hall, Regrello said the police actions were disrespectful to the people and the artform.

The incident, which caused the crowd to become rowdy as they voiced disapproval of the police actions, took place opposite Wack radio on Coffee Street during the last lap pan competition, while Regrello was on a float as Caribbean Airlines Skiffle, led by his son Joshua, was playing.

Regrello said, “This matter has been going on for the last eight or nine years, where the police will come and stop Carnival. What is disturbing is that both superintendents and other senior officers, last Friday at our briefing, gave us the assurance that this will not happen again this year.

“To my dismay, at around 10 pm last evening while steelbands were in the last lap competition outside Wack premises, a constable officer in tactical uniform and a gentleman in plain clothes came and stopped the band while they were performing.”

Regrello said the conversation with the officer got “very strong.”

“I was up on the float telling the band you could continue. The judges allowed them to play and he jumped on to the truck and snatched my arm. He said he was stopping the band and I asked what authority he had to stop the band.”

Regrello said the officer, who did not seem to know who he was, also threatened to lock him up.

Regrello said he was still undecided on whether to press charges, but complained that the police’s “brutal and bullying” behaviour is causing masqueraders and bandleaders to consider taking part in Port-of-Spain Carnival.

He said when Snr Supt Zamsheed Mohammed arrived on the scene he allowed steeelbands to continue performing. He also questioned whether the police had the authority to lock off celebrations.

“As far as we know, the President proclaims Carnival and Carnival starts at 4 am Monday and ends midnight Carnival Tuesday. Unless something happens that can create a risk to the lives of citizens then we will adhere to that, but we must be consulted and informed of what is going on. ... There was nothing that would have affected the peaceful running of the Carnival celebrations.”

Complaining that young pan players and spectators would have witnessed the incident, he said, “The police owe the city corporation and the people of San Fernando an apology for the atrocity. This going on for seven or eight years and it is time we put a stop to this.”

But TTPS public information officer Michael Jackman said yesterday the police ended the event in the interest of public safety. He after police had halted last lap activities on Cipero Street, including fights and a bottle throwing, earlier, some of the crowd went to Coffee Street for the last lap steelpan event. He said police there agreed with the organisers only to allow the judging of the steelbands to be completed, after which the music had to be turned off and the bands had to leave the area. However, he said after judging one band continued playing and when police attempted to explain the arrangement, a band member and the public began using abusive language towards them.

Jackman said Snr Supt Mohammed intervened and quickly brought the situation under control. However, Supt Yuseff Gaffar has since been detailed to probe the incident.

But Regrello yesterday said even if there was an incident on Cipero Street, that did not warrant the police shutting down the entire celebration. However, he said no one could say who was the senior officer who gave the instructions.

“You know they would not have done that in Port-of-Spain. I have never heard Carnival stopped in Port-of-Spain at 9 or 10 pm.”

Several Muslim groups are expected to speak with National Security Minister Edmund Dillon by today on recent detentions of people - including a woman and two mosque leaders - during the probe of a plot to disrupt Carnival 2018.

This was confirmed by security sources yesterday. It is understood the ministry asked to meet with groups to speak on the issue. Several Muslim groups have expressed concern over the way some detentions have occurred since last Thursday, when police revealed the plot.

The number of those detained began with four but has increased to 13. Sources said those detained are from the East-West corridor, Central Trinidad and two from south Trinidad. The latest person was held on Carnival Tuesday. A hearing was recently held for authorities to extend the detention time - by a further 96 hours - for one Freeport man who was held, they added.

Shamoon Mohammed, father of detainee Tariq Mohammed, said yesterday there’d been no response to the family’s letter to the acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams demanding his release. Mohammed said his lawyers were due to serve authorities with a writ of habeas corpus yesterday seeking that release.

“Five days have gone by and constitutionally he shouldn’t have been held so long - he went voluntarily with police,” Mohammed added.

Family members of other El Socorro area detainees yesterday questioned why “99 per cent of the detainees were Muslim.” They said they’re also pursuing legal action to secure release of their relatives

Muslims of T&T PRO Imtiaz Mohammed called on Dillon and the police to tell the public specifically, “especially the Muslim community, what the events of these (search) exercises concerned, what the people detained are being charged with and if they’re being charged with terrorism for instance.”

He added, “That word (terrorism) wasn’t used at the first press briefing, so they should come straight out and say what the matter was and what sort of ‘criminal act’ they were referring to. Those who went into bands and robbed people was a disruption of Carnival - they should be charged for terrorising people.”

Islamic Front leader Umar Abdullah added, “Authorities must say who are the foreign- accented people observed working with search parties and who are more professional than local police.”

Government will be pursuing the Anti-Gang bill again.

And this time Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley hopes Government and the Opposition can work out the areas of concern the Opposition has on the bill. Last year, the T&T Police Service had asked the Government to bring the bill to Parliament to aid them in getting murders and gang activity under control. However, the proposed bill failed last December due to lack of Opposition support. Proposals cannot be returned until six months after a bill’s failure.

Speaking at a media briefing at the Diplomatic Centre yesterday, Rowley said from reports, all areas of criminal activity seem to be on the decline save murders. He said this is beyond all efforts to turn it around.

He said last year security forces collected 1,000 firearms and that still didn’t help the situation. But he said efforts must now be redoubled, noting a lot of crime involves revenge killings, protection of turf and similar issues.

Saying the Anti-Gang law was needed, he said Government has written the Opposition and the latter has indicated its concerns on the bill. He expects meetings would be held in the “not too distant future” so these can be worked out.

On an unrelated matter, the PM also hinted that the return to work by Public Administration Minister Maxie Cuffie will depend on his condition.Cuffie suffered a stroke last September and has been in rehabilitation in the US since then. Rowley said his exercise abroad was successful and he was expected back in the “not too distant future,” adding Cuffie had made considerable progress.

Rowley confirmed the state is bearing part of the cost of Cuffie’s medical bill. But he said there is a limit on the cost. While he couldn’t give the cost, he added, “It wasn’t insubstantial.”

Rowley also said he may have to “assist” the situation according to how strenuous Cuffie’s job is. He reiterated he’d recently said he’d divest Cuffie’s portfolio - which he currently holds - and that was still on the cards and would be discussed next week. Rowley will be at a public meeting in Cuffie’s constituency then.

Rowley said yesterday’s retreat focused on reports on the economy, legislative agenda and security. Discussions involved fine-tuning how Government moves ahead and the focus on managing expectations and expenditure, monitoring debt and maintaining jobs towards the goal of a balanced budget later on.

He projected protracted Parliamentary sessions to deal with the legislative agenda. This includes legislation on Local Government reform, the T&T Revenue Authority and Tobago’s self- government. Discussions also fell on development plan projects, which includes the E-Tech park, aluminium, tourism and other projects.

It was no joke.

While there are legal challenges concerning the people detained in relation to the plot to disrupt Carnival, the plot was no joke Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has confirmed

Rowley spoke about the matter and the overall threat situation facing T&T - in very broad terms - at a media briefing following yesterday’s Cabinet retreat at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s.

Police last week revealed they had credible information about a plot to disrupt Carnival and began detaining people. Thirteen have been detained so far.

On whether authorities were close to charging anyone, Rowley said he was aware there were legal challenges because citizens’ rights are being interfered with. He said he was leaving that to the “realm it belonged to.”

However, Rowley maintained authorities had and “still do have” serious security concerns about the safety of the state and operations are ongoing.

“There are some people who believed this was a joke or persecution. But T&T is free and in so far as claims of religious persecution is concerned, that holds no water regarding the security services responding to criminal conduct on the part of anyone,” he said.

Rowley said about a week ago it came to the attention of Government and monitoring agencies - local and international - that there were specific instances being contemplated for action against the Carnival parade.

“It would have been irresponsible on the Government’s part not to have intervened with that information,” he said.

Asked if it involved bombings, Rowley said he couldn’t go into it, “but we’re not the only state or the first which has acted on credible information.”

He hinted that T&T hadn’t faced “this particular level of activity” before, but said security agencies were prepared to respond.

“When the Government sees it necessary to indicate that we’re dealing with credible threats I just hope citizens take that phrase very seriously,” he said.

He explained, “As chairman of the National Security Council, we’ve had to monitor the activities of some of our citizens - a small minority - but we’d be putting our heads in the sand if we don’t acknowledge and accept that we, as a people, are part of the scourge of international unacceptable developments.

“This, moreso in recent times when some of our citizens have taken positions that are alien to us as a people and are detrimental to the well-being of our nation if their teachings and actions are allowed to go unobserved or unchecked.”

Rowley said it wasn’t news that some citizens have gone abroad, engaged in combat and accepted training “and attached themselves to ideologies elsewhere.” He said some of those “points of view form part of conversations within our borders - and some of the training poses a threat to us a a people.”

Rowley said he didn’t expect this would be the last time T&T would face these kind of challenges.

Asked if information shows further threats, he emphasised: “We must understand there are citizens in T&T who engaged themselves in and subscribe to ideologies and activities, which, if taken to their logical conclusion, can cause detriment to the people of T&T. We’d be burying our heads in the sand if we don’t accept that.”

Throughout Carnival, Rowley said he’d been engaged in ensuring what was happening was being monitored properly and he chose not to be away from that task. Consequently, he only came out on Carnival Tuesday.

On possible US role in the effort, Rowley said it was correct for US spokespeople to say they weren’t involved in T&T operations, since it was 100 per cent a local operation. But the gathering and sharing of information is a continuous process between T&T and the US, he said.

Amendments to the anti-terrorism law will be brought to Parliament, he added.

The business community in Tobago is praising Caribbean Airlines for “saving the day,” in the face of the crisis created when the seabridge collapsed last week in the height of the Carnival season.

President of the Tobago Chamber Demi John Cruickshank told the T&T Guardian that without the intervention of Caribbean Airlines there would have been “a further collapse of the already staggering business sector in Tobago.”

And while he was high in praise of CAL, Cruickshank was highly critical of the Port Authority and the Chairman Alison Lewis.

“We are satisfied with what CAL did, but we are totally unhappy with the Port,” which had failed to keep the business and the Tobago community up to date on what is the status of the T&T Express and the T&T Spirit, “we don’t know when either of the vessels will return to the seabridge,” he said.

Cruickshank said “the Port has not given us any update as to what the status of the Spirit or the Express in terms of the extension of the licence for the Express. We have not had any word from the Port and we hope that between today and tomorrow the Port will give us some update as to what is happening with those vessels.”

The Tobago Chamber head said the Port needs to understand there is an economic cost to Tobago when the seabridge collapses. He said when the T&T Express was pulled from service last week, “a lot of people took back money from the guest house owners. They also ask for refunds from hoteliers and everybody because they just did not feel safe coming to Tobago.”

Cruickshank said, “although CAL did well people felt the predictability was not there and when the boats broke down people who wanted to come with cars and their families just opted not to come to Tobago for Carnival.”

The Tobago Chamber, he said, “is calling on the Port to make an official statement as to what is the status of the two fast ferries the T&T Express and the T&T Spirit, and when are they expected to be back in operation.”

Cruickshank said the airline really saved the day because it used both ATRs and 727 jets to ensure that there were enough seats to accommodate passengers, so much so, he said, that on Saturday there were more flights available than passengers and some of the flights had to be cancelled.

He said CAL may also need to save Tobago this coming weekend when there are two major fetes on the island, Call to Paradise with Machel Montano and another hosted by Iwer George, at the Magdalena and Pigeon Point, “so a lot of people supposed to be coming to Tobago.”

Cruickshank also commended the Cabo Star which, he said, stepped up to the plate and “although they cannot take a lot of passengers because they don’t have the accommodation, they did transport the cargo we needed and the vehicles.” The Cabo Star has the capacity to transport 130 trucks.

While Bridgeman Services Group (BSG) could provide no details on the number of vehicles transported by the Cabo Star over the Carnival period, BSG President Brian Grange told the T&T Guardian the vessel’s “versatility is in the expansive lane metres on board.” He said, “the vessel was never at vehicle capacity.”

The Cabo Star is operating on a one-year contract.

Grange said the contract stipulates “extensions must be nominated by March as we need to plan for our next contract wherever that might be,” but as yet he said there had been no discussions with the Port on an extension of the lone cargo vessel on the seabridge.

National Security Minister Edmund Dillon should apologise to the families of detainees who were released on Wednesday night, says Muslims of T&T public relations officer Imtiaz Mohammed.

He was commenting on the release of Tariq Mohammed and Fawaz Ali, who were among 13 people detained since last Thursday in the ongoing police probe of a plot to disrupt Carnival 2018. By the end of yesterday, five people in all had been released by the police.

After the release of Mohammed and Ali on Wednesday, Mohammed said,”This demands answers on the so-called ‘credible information’ they said they had. As a result the public needs to know the source of that information.

“We’re also concerned the detainees’ families and their characters could be tarnished by this episode, so the release (of the men) demands an apology from the National Security Minister and Government. In fact, the latter owes the Muslim community - all imams, members - an overall apology and the state should compensate families where police exercised brute force in searches and put fear into the hearts of people.”

Islamic Front Leader Umar Abdullah said he believed the two men were released because lawyers began putting legal pressure on the state.

“This situation has also raised concerns about certain tactics allegedly being used by authorities on some detainees. Can the authorities say if the female detainee is allegedly being held until her husband’s brother is found - the sort of tactic we’ve heard Israeli forces use.”

He added, “But she has a four-month-old baby and is breast feeding, so the situation is particularly tough for her.” The Opposition United National Congress intends to file queries on crime, the threat of terrorism and other issues for reply by the Government and the Prime Minister at today’s Parliament session.

Yesterday, Opposition MP Rodney Charles took Government to task on being slow to deal with terrorism issues and returning Islamic State fighters.

Noting Rowley’s recent confirmation that the terror plot threat was real, Charles said, “This Government hasn’t listened to repeated Opposition warnings in and out of Parliament on both T&T’s terrorism threat and our failing war on crime. They only awake from their deep slumber when warnings come from external sources.”

He said the Opposition first brought up the matter of Trinidad’s involvement in global terrorism during the 2016 Budget debate, with further information on other aspects - including T&T families discovered in Iraq - later.

“Dr. Rowley’s standard response was that we were giving T&T a bad name when we raised it in Parliament,” Charles said.

“Government was warned on at least on seven occasions about the terrorism threat, including possible negative consequences of returning terrorists. We advised Canada was monitoring their returnees from the Middle East. Our National Security Minister hasn’t even been able to tell us the number of returning TT terrorists.” 

“I thanked God and everyone who helped me get through the last six days.”

That’s exactly what Tariq Mohammed did on Wednesday night when he was released from detention for questioning in the ongoing police probe of the plot to disrupt Carnival 2018.

Mohammed and Fawaz Ali, both of El Socorro, San Juan, were released on Wednesday night after six days of detention. Two other detainees were released during the course of yesterday evening.

Mohammed’s mother and brother went to the Belmont Police Station - where he was detained - to collect him. He emerged around 11 pm and reached their El Socorro home around 11.30 pm, his father Shamoon said. Clad in a three quarter pants and a jersey, Tariq looked “tired and badly in need of sleep,” his father added.

Tariq Mohammed’s first words on entering his home and playing with his three children were, “Thank God, I’m back home.” Mohammed himself yesterday told the T&T Guardian he was flabbergasted and bewildered by the entire episode.

“I went with the police when they came last week, fully intent on co-operating - next minute I was hearing about ‘threat attack.’ Just ludicrous!” he said.

He said he was treated well in detention and police’s main approach while questioning him were along the lines of ‘’So what’s this plot ting, boy?” and asking him why he was in there.

“But I don’t know anything about what they were talking. As time wore on I realised I wouldn’t get out until Ash Wednesday and just had to be patient. I don’t want to go through this type of thing again. God knows best,” Tariq said.

“One thing for sure I’ve learned from this is that T&T isn’t a draconian military state and I don’t want to see it reach there - home is a great place.”

His father added, “Tariq is still trying to figure out why authorities came to him. They should go back to whoever - local or foreign - informed them of some plot and ask them what it was about. He knows nothing of any plot.”

And Mohammed’s family fully intends pursuing legal action concerning the situation and the tarnishing of the family’s name, Shamoon said.

“We’re now studying, with lawyers, what legal action we have to take on this. We’ll look at apologies and if we should be compensated for all the doors and locks police broke down entering the family home recently.

“There’s also the tarnishing of our family’s name - we’ve never had to deal with anything like this and we’re not going to let it go just like that. The assault on my second son Wasim also is going to the Police Complaints Authority.” Wasim Mohammed’s nose was bloodied when he was hit during the police searches, the family had said.

2ND FREED SUSPECT STILL IN SHOCK

Ali was released on the basis of a habeas corpus writ filed by his attorneys seeking explanation on why he continued to be detained after 48-72 hours had passed. Ali’s relatives said yesterday he was taking some time to sort himself out after the “shock”.

“But he’s as normal as ever, the children were so happy to see him; he’s very glad to be home,” they told the T&T Guardian.

While Mohammed’s family had intended to file a similar writ of habeas corpus it wasn’t done, Shamoon Mohammed confirmed.

He added, “Around 8 pm Wednesday, police called us saying that at Tariq’s request, legal representation was wanted since they wanted to do their final interview with him.

“We got the legal representative to them by 8.45 pm. In a short space of time questioning was completed. At the end, they decided to release Tariq immediately. The superintendent in charge called and asked us to come and collect him.”

The attorneys for another El Socorro resident, Mustapha Khan, who was also detained last Thursday, were also in legal proceedings yesterday seeking his client’s release, relatives indicated.

Police revealed the plot threat last Thursday following searches at various El Socorro homes. In subsequent days they went on to search other locations along the East West corridor, Central and South, including homes, mosques and Muslim schools. Thirteen people in all, including a woman and two imams, were detained. After yesterday’s releases nine are still detained.

A significant increase in suspicious transactions related to financing of terrorism was reported to local and international law enforcement agencies by the Financial Intelligence Unit of T&T (FIUTT) in the past year.

The FIUTT said that between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017, 112 of the 877 suspicious transaction reports/suspicious activity reports (STRs/SARs) detected were related to suspected financing of terrorism—up by 62 per cent from the previous year.

These were highlighted by director Susan Francois in the FIUTT’s Eighth Annual Report which was posted online by the Ministry of Finance yesterday.

“To date, the FIUTT’s intelligence reveals 251 citizens of Trinidad and Tobago suspected of being involved in the financing of terrorism and related offences,” Francois said.

“The FIUTT completed analysis on 647 of the 877 new cases received which generated 182 operational intelligence reports, of which 136 related to suspected money laundering and 46 related to financing of terrorism. Of these reports, the FIUTT sent 140 to local law enforcement authorities and 42 to foreign law enforcement authorities and foreign FIUs.”

Francois said the FIUTT has developed three strategic intelligence reports—Foreign Terrorist Fighters and their Facilitation Networks in Trinidad and Tobago, Real Property Fraud and Fraud in the Insurance (motor vehicle) sector—which have been shared with local and foreign law enforcement authorities, FIUs, regulators and other reporting entities. The report on foreign terrorist fighters recommends action to build intelligence and investigative capacity, prevent radicalisation and other deterrents.

According to Francois, 176 money laundering charges involving $7.2 million were laid against seven individuals.

“The criminal conduct which led to the money laundering charges were illegal gambling, fraud, larceny and drug trafficking,” she said.

In addition, the Attorney General petitioned the High Court to designate several individuals and entities as terrorists and to freeze their assets.

Francois said the 877 STRs/SARs detected were a record number and an increase of 19 per cent from the 739 in the previous reporting year. The monetary value was more than $22 billion in suspected proceeds of criminal conduct.

She said: “This is an unprecedented increase because the cumulative monetary value of suspicious transactions reported for the previous five years of 2011 to 2016 was only $4.5 billion.

“Of the 877 STRs/SARs, 94 per cent were completed suspicious transactions with a monetary value of $8.4 billion while six per cent were attempted transactions with a monetary value of $13.6 billion.”

National Security Minister Edmund Dillon, who represented the Government alongside Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi in a meeting with Muslim leaders yesterday, says the meeting was to foster cooperation and collaboration between the protective services and the Islamic community.

“It was really called to assure the Muslim community that the investigations and subsequent arrests of citizens of T&T was not targeting, in anyway, the Islamic community. In fact, it was based on criminal investigations,” Dillon said.

The meeting was called as tension in the Muslim community rose in the wake of the arrest of 13 suspects, all Muslim, in connection with a plot to disrupt the just concluded Carnival activities last week.

Imam Shiraz Ali, of the Nur-E-Islam mosque in San Juan, whose members were among the detainees, said he was pleased with the discussions.

“Of course we know that the investigation is still ongoing so it is not going to be easy for them to give us everything we may want to hear. We do feel they are doing what they are supposed to be doing,” Ali said.

He also said that Al-Rawi had given them the assurance that the police were obeying due process laws in their investigation of the detainees. Ali, who is associated with the Darul Uloom Islamic School in Cunupia, called on citizens not to be prejudiced against Muslims based on the terror threat allegations.

“We don’t think that there are feelings of Islamophobia by members of the protective services, but we are hoping that the public is not feeling that Muslims, who they have been living with in peace for many decades, have suddenly become terrorists or criminals,” he said.

He added: “We hope that this is the message that could be carried forward so we can continue to live in peace and harmony.”

Five of the 13 people detained in relation to an alleged terrorist plot targeting recently concluded Carnival celebrations, were released by police between Wednesday evening and last night.

Police and legal sources confirmed that Tariq Mohammed, Fawaz Ali, Clint Rivers, Kirsten Mohammed and Edoo Mohammed were released from various police stations across north Trinidad after being questioned by investigators over the past week.

Tariq and Ali were released on Wednesday night, while the rest were released yesterday evening.

The last to be released was Edoo Mohammed, an imam from Enterprise, Chaguanas.

In a brief interview as he waited on relatives outside the Besson Street Police Station last night, Edoo criticised members of the protective services over their investigation.

“This shows that the Ministry of National Security’s intelligence apparatus is very weak,” he said.

Tariq, Ali and Rivers’ releases came after their families threatened filing habeas corpus writs which require police to bring a detainee before a High Court Judge and justify their continued detention. Tariq and Ali were released before the writs were filed by their lawyers. Rivers’ attorneys, Wayne Sturge and Alexia Romero, filed his yesterday and it was approved by High Court Judge Ricky Rahim without a hearing.

By the time Rahim’s order was communicated to investigators, however, Rivers, a customs officer, had already been released.

As part of his order, Rahim ordered Rivers to appear before him in the San Fernando High Court this morning. After the hearing, Rahim is expected to preside over yet another habeas corpus from a mother of a four-month-old child from San Juan who was detained during the investigation

The woman’s husband has also filed a similar lawsuit, which will be heard by Justice Kevin Ramcharan in the Port-of-Spain High Court simultaneously.

There were rumours of more releases and pending legal action circulating yesterday, but these cases could not be confirmed by the T&T Guardian.

Speaking to reporters following a meeting with leaders of the major Islamic organisations at the Ministry of National Security in Port-of-Spain yesterday evening, acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams could only confirm that Tariq and Ali had been released, as he said he was engaged in the meeting for several hours.

“You may have more updated information than us. We spent a pretty long period inside a meeting but I am sure I can get the information for you,” Williams said.

ABOUT THE PLOT

The plot to allegedly disrupt Carnival celebrations was first revealed by the T&T Police Service (TTPS) last Thursday, after a first batch of suspects were arrested at their homes in Mohammedville, San Juan.

Over the next few days, police made several other arrests, bringing the total detainees to 13.

While members of the protective services were on alert for the threat during the Carnival weekend, none materialised.

Since then, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon and acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams have each called press conferences to state that the threat was legitimate.

However, they have not revealed details of the threat, including its nature and the intended target or targets.

Speaking with reporters yesterday, Dillon denied reports that police received assistance from foreign agencies, including the United States (US) Government.

The claim was reported in CNN report last week, after police arrested the first suspects and the plot was made public.

“It was a police led operation that was led by intelligence gathered by the TTPS and agencies of national security in T&T. There was no outside input,” Dillon said.

During the 2011 state of emergency (SoE), almost a dozen Muslim men were held for an alleged plot to assassinate then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and key members of her Cabinet.

The men were held for an extended period under special detention powers granted during the SoE, but were eventually freed due to insufficient evidence against them.

The Privy Council has granted an injunction barring State-owned Petrotrin from taking steps to terminate its contract with A&V Oil and Gas over a billing scandal.

On Wednesday, the United Kingdom-based appellate court granted A&V the injunction pending its appeal over a decision of the High Court to strike out its case against Petrotrin last month. A date for the hearing of the appeal is yet to be set.

The minor legal victory comes after the company’s challenge was refused three consecutive times by local courts.

The company is challenging a decision by High Court Judge Avason Quinlan-Williams to dismiss its claim and refuse it an injunction which would last while the contractual dispute between the parties is being arbitrated. Quinlan-Williams’ decision was then upheld by Appellate Judge Prakash Moosai. However, the company requested that a full three-member Appeal Court panel reconsider the issue.

Last week, the panel comprising of Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Appellate Judges Andre Des Vignes and Charmaine Pemberton approved the two previous decisions.

In her decision, Quinlan-Williams had said Petrotrin was justified in terminating based on the findings of internal and external audit reports into its relationship with A&V.

“Applying an objective test of what reasonable grounds means, Petrotrin had reasonable grounds for suspecting that A&V had misconducted itself based on the information contained in the internal audit report,” Quinlan-Williams said.

She rejected A&V’s claim that Petrotrin was required to disclose the external reports prepared by global oil and gas consultants Gaffney Cline and Kroll Consulting, as she said this was privileged information. She suggested that it was also not entitled to the injunction, as the contract contained a multi-tiered and explicit dispute resolution process which includes negotiation, mitigation and arbitration.

A&V is being represented by Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC, Ronnie Bissessar, Vijaya Maharaj and Varin Gopaul-Gosine. Deborah Peake, SC, Ravi Heffes-Doon and Marcelle Ferdinand are representing Petrotrin.

More about case

In 2009, A&V was granted a ten-year licence from Petrotrin to operate its onshore oil fields in Catskills, Moruga.

The scandal involving the two companies was first raised in September last year by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who revealed that Petrotrin’s internal audit had shown that A&V inflated its crude oil production figures, leading to over-payments for oil Petrotrin did not receive. She also questioned the link between the company’s owner Haniff Nizam Baksh and Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.

Rowley admitted to knowing Baksh and contacting him when the news broke, but has denied any wrongdoing.

In a separate matter, Baksh and his son-in-law Billy Ramsundar, who is a police corporal, have also been charged with assaulting the T&T Guardian’s senior photographer Kristian Da Silva and destroying his camera valued at US$1,600.

That incident occurred on September 15 while Da Silva was on assignment taking photographs of the company’s headquarters at Nizam Avenue, San Francique, as the media were reporting on the matter

Members of the legal profession are calling for answers from the Law Association on the ongoing investigation into allegations made against Chief Justice Ivor Archie.

Several senior and junior attorneys told the T&T Guardian they are angry the association has not been keeping the membership up to date on the investigation which started several months ago.

They say the election for a new executive is due in mid-March and they want the current leadership under Douglas Mendes SC to say what has happened with the investigation.

It is now more than a month since the association wrote to the CJ requesting answers to allegations about him in the public domain.

Archie issued a brief press release in December denying allegations against him, which include claims he sought to expedite Housing Development Corporation (HDC) housing for certain individuals and discussing judges’ security with Dillian Johnson, who was described as his friend and who has since sought asylum in the United Kingdom.

Johnson was shot in his hand in December at his Gasparillo home and subsequently claimed that there was a plot to kill him.

A committee comprising Mendes, association vice president Rajiv Persad, Elton Prescott, SC, Theresa Hadad and Lynette Seebaran-Suite submitted an interim report to the association’s council late last year. The committee’s findings were sent to Archie for his response and although there were reports the interim report would have been submitted to the membership that was not done.

Well-placed sources also said it seems the investigation has been stalled, as no brief has as yet been sent to the two Senior Counsel, former Belize attorney general Eamon Harrison Courtenay and Grenada Bar Association president Francis Alexis, who were retained to advise on whether there are sufficient grounds to petition Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to invoke the impeachment provisions of section 137 of the Constitution to investigate the CJ.

A meeting of the association’s council is carded for next Tuesday and attorneys say they are hoping to get an update on the investigation.

Contacted on the status of the investigation yesterday, Mendes said he preferred “not to give any update at this point.”

Minority Tobago House of Assembly leader Watson Duke is elated about his Tobago-born cousin Winston Duke’s success as a cast member in the upcoming Marvel blockbuster movie Black Panther.

In fact, he plans to move a THA motion to have him honoured and given the keys to the community from which he hailed. If the THA fails to act, Duke says he is prepared to make it happen himself.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Duke described the current fame of his cousin, a Belle Garden East native who plays the character of M Baku, a villain in the movie which opens today, as inspirational, motivational and prophetic.

He said to have someone from Tobago, who had been strapped with the circumstances every Tobagonian is faced with, Winston’s success was a pillar of hope to young Tobagonians.

“Tobago is not Hollywood or Los Angeles, where you can walk down the road and see a star and touch one and say that you want to be like them. So for me, just his life story, having just been a part of this movie, is inspirational and makes me look at my own career path and own that black strength that is within us,” Duke said.

In promotional appearances for the movie, Winston, who shares the screen with lead actor Chadwick Boseman and Oscar-winning actors Forest Whitaker and Lupita Nyongo to name a few, has been quick to note his Trinidadian heritage. In an interview on MSNBC this week, Duke told host David Gura about his humble beginnings in Tobago and reading comic books to learn about American culture as a youth before he migrated to the United States.

He told Gura that coming from Tobago, which had both East Indian and African cultures, gave him a good foundation to prepare himself for his role in the movie, which is being seen as a major statement about black culture worldwide.

In response to the question of the movie’s cultural shift in the face of superheroes, Duke said it allows him and other people of colour to see themselves reflected in the media in a positive way. He said for young children, the movie allows them to dream and aspire to greatness.

“They can consume this type of content while they are still developing so that the world cannot tell them who they can and cannot be,” Duke said.

Duke left Tobago at the age of 10 with his parents and sister, who is now a medical doctor in the US. Falling in love with acting, he enrolled at Yale School of Drama where he majored in acting and theatrical studies. He said he kept close to him the folk tales of the gold-toothed donkey believed to be able to shape-shift and Douens, souls of children who died before they were christened and he could not forget the the old man Papa Bois, stories told to him by elders in the village of Belle Garden.

The video has been shared on social media, including What’sApp, especially by Trinidadians proud to see one of their own on such a big stage.

Yesterday, Watson Duke said the many heroes from Tobago have been lost because there was never any move to honour them significantly. And he would not like his cousin’s milestone to go unnoticed.

He argued not even the former President ANR Robinson and others like equal rights activist and founding member of the Butler Political Party, A.P.T “Fargo” James, were properly honoured in Tobago. He highlighted sportsmen like Cyd Gray and paralympic athlete Akeem Stewart, saying the latter won a gold medal at the Paralympic Games and was never honoured in any great way.

Government is bracing for a barrage of lawsuits by those who were detained in relation to an alleged terrorist plot targeting recently concluded 2018 Carnival celebrations, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi admitted yesterday.

He made the comment as he reporters that several of the persons who were recently released between Wednesday and yesterday without being charged by the police had signalled their intention to sue the State.

Despite this Al-Rawi defended the actions on the police in the ongoing exercises.

“Law enforcement was well within their rights to take action as they see fit to detain, release and charge people, all of which has happened. So the position of what is to come next … there is due process in this country. Everyone is entitled to approach the courts,” the AG said.

He said T&T also enjoys a cherished democracy and due process.

“The State is prepared to deal with it. We will treat with it as it happens.”

Al-Rawi said his office will defend the claims “and we will take it there whether there was reasonable suspicion in detaining someone... it is not new for the court. These are easy matters for a court to decide upon.”

Al-Rawi said the habeas corpus applications that came up over Carnival season were denied.

“And therefore, the judiciary has already in part considered the reasonableness of continued detention of persons to assist with investigations.”

Having supervised the completion of matters on the arrest of throngs of people during the state of emergency which took place under the People’s Partnership government, Al-Rawi said: “I can tell you that those matters are still being worked out inside of the courts… some of them have resulted in money payments by the State not for the Anti-Gang Act but for false imprisonment or malicious prosecution where there was no evidence.”

ISIS has alleged a group of its “fighters” here in T&T was arrested on February 8 “while they were preparing a mega-attack during the night stretching from 13 to 14 February when the Carnival was in full swing.”

The claim was made in ISIS’ February Dabiq propaganda magazine, where the terror group claimed responsibility for the Carnival threat.

It featured a picture of T&T-born ISIS fighter Shane Crawford with the article. Crawford been ISIS’ poster boy on several articles pushing Caribbean and global recruitment.

It was, however, reported by the US and T&T authorities that he was killed in military strikes against ISIS last year.

The February Dabiq article stated, “In Trinidad and Tobago there is a strong minority presence of Indian Muslims who arrived during the British colonisation. Over time, Afro-Americans and Arabs have been added to the community.

“This magnificent Caribbean island has equipped Daesh with several hundred combatants. It is the first country to source jihadists in the Americas. Last year Shane Crawford, called Abu Sa’d at-Trinidadi, announced in the Dabiq that preparations for an operation were under way in T&T.”

It added: “In July 1990, a hundred jihadists of the Jamaat al Muslimeen had tried to take power in T&T. They had attacked the parliament and taken the prime minister as a hostage. Then they had used the offices of the national television to hide away for six days before turning themselves in.”

The magazine stated in May 2017, Thierry Meyssan had reported in”Russia Today” that Isis was preparing to destabilise the North-West of South America.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says Government became aware of the recent plot to disrupt Carnival 2018 festivities by persons who subscribe to the “kind of behaviour we’ve been accustomed to in the 21st century,” through ongoing monitoring and the support of various stakeholders in the effort to defend our borders against terrorism.

He made the comment yesterday in response to questions from United National Congress MP Roodal Moonilal queries about the Carnival plot threat.

Rowley said the operation was led “100 per cent” by T&T security personnel. However, he noted other personnel from other countries supply support, information and equipment to the effort.

“I’m eternally grateful for the work they’ve done in securing the population and we continue to thank our partners internationally for their work also,” the PM said.

Rowley said he continues to be convinced T&T faced a credible threat.

On why people detained during recent investigations were released if the threat was credible, Rowley added: “That’s a matter of and for law enforcement. However, to say that the fact they’ve been released or nothing happened is proof that nothing could have happened is pure folly.”